ECB December meeting: what to expect?

On Thursday the ECB meeting is in the centre of the market attention. Monetary policy decision at 12:45 GMT will be followed by a press-conference at 13:30 GMT.

What to expect from the meeting and how will EUR/USD behave?

The ECB is very unlikely to announce a full-scale QE today. However, Mario Draghi is expected to send a strong signal, indicating that it will broaden asset purchases in early 2015 in order to expand the balance sheet. Such a dovish stance is expected to send the euro lower. Next support for the pair is seen at 1.2250 and 1.2200.

If Draghi fails to deliver this dovish message, the markets will clearly be disappointed. In this case EUR/USD could bounce back towards the 1.2600 area in the coming sessions. However, the medium term picture will remain bearish as investors will continue to expect new easing measures to come in 2015.